Turkey: Few Traces of Armenian Past To Be Found a Century Later

Many of the original Armenian homes in the historic Kale district of Muş have been demolished for urban improvements.

For Armenians, the towns of Muş and Sason in southeastern Turkey, not far to the west of Lake Van, hold particular historical significance. But today, 100 years after the massacre of 1915, few ethnic Armenians still remain there

In the medieval era, Muş served as the central town of the influential Armenian principality of Taron, home to Mesrop Mashtots, who invented the Armenian alphabet in the early fifth century.

Sason, known to Armenians as Sasun, is the setting for the 8th-10th-century Armenian national epic, “The Daredevils of Sasun" (also called “The Daredevils of Sassoun"), which tells how Armenian fighters, led by the legendary ruler, David of Sasun (or Sassoun), repulsed repeated Arab invasions.

Although both locations lost their prominence in modern times, they remained important regional centers for Armenian culture until the bloodshed of 1915.

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Anahit Hayrapetyan is a freelance photojournalist based in Berlin and Yerevan.